Merry Christmas to you all! Today’s post comes courtesy of a guest author, my wonderful wife! I wish you all a wonderful time of celebration commemorating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
God accomplishes what we cannot. Peace. How our world needs this. We see chaos, disorder, fear, disagreements, and anger. This is what the plans of man get us. On our own and in our own flesh we are selfish creatures seeking our own way. Only Christ in us can help us set aside our agendas and ask “what would Jesus have me do…in my world, in my day, in this situation, in this very moment, what should my response be?”
As believers and followers of Christ we are called to be His hands and feet to the world around us. But if we don’t fall on our knees, see our need for our Savior, and ask Him to open our eyes to the WHY that He came, until we understand our hopelessness apart from Him, we will skim over the need and just keep bustling around this season. We try to do it in our strength and get wrapped up in to-do lists, cookies, presents, trees, decorations, plans, and schedules. Then, instead of feeling peace and joy as we serve those we love, we feel stress in the midst of our striving and controlling what we think Christmas needs to look like and be like. We lose sight of why we even celebrate it.
But see, that’s what it is, isn’t it? Our striving is this need for control, for as the world around us spins by, we long for order in our chaos. We need to see that in our need for peace, we tend to grasp at control, and instead of releasing and looking to God we put it on ourselves to find the peace and we try to control the outcome. We try to make it all okay. We try to give our kids and loved ones security and peace as much as we can through our striving, and the things we do and plan. Now the wish for that in and of itself is not wrong; it is normal. We all long for security and peace. We know deep down we were created for more than this and Heaven beckons to show us the need for our Savior. We see this world as fallen, broken, and not as it should be; we long for peace, but the more we seek to control things ourselves and grasp at peace in our own strength, the further we get from the one who actually does control it all, and who offers us true peace in Him.
Christ alone is our security, our hope, and our peace in the midst of all our chaos. He who came as a baby into our world knows just how much we long for peace and how much we need Him. So let’s take a minute to be still, to reset, and to seek Him alone for that peace.
Acknowledging our need for Him is the first step to that peace. We need to see our sin, brokenness, and hopelessness apart from Him and turn to Him for salvation. He came to save and to bring us back into relationship with the Father. We now have access to the throne room of God through prayer because of Christ! He is where the peace is.
So this Christmas season, may we look to Christ for our peace. May we remember He loved us so much that He gave up Heaven to come for us. He came and poured into the world His love and forgiveness and only in Him can we now go and pour out into those around us. Our desire to give peace and order isn’t wrong, but it becomes wrong when we take it on ourselves to bring it apart from Christ. For He is the true reason and gift of Christmas and through Him alone can we have that peace that passes all understanding, (Phil 4:7) and spread that joy, peace, and hope to others.
Merry Christmas all, from our family to yours. May you feel His peace over you no matter what your circumstances may be.